Panasonic and Sony Factories Damaged in Quake

It looks like it could be a while before Japan gets back on its feet. I can't even think how it would feel to live through all of this. I was raised near San Francisco and something like this was always in the background of your mind.

It also looks like we might have to forgo getting a new camera and learn how to use the one that we already have, which isn't a bad thing. I read online that Panasonic camera factory is damaged, and they can't get power.

From MSMBC

Panasonic Corp said continuing aftershocks were preventing it from inspecting two factories in northern Japan, one making electronic parts and another digital cameras and audio equipment. It said a lack of proper power and water supply was a potential bottleneck.

Electronics giant Sony Corp has suspended operations at eight factories including one making optical film that was flooded by the tsunami triggered by Friday's 8.9-magnitude quake.

In the scheme of things not getting a new camera isn't really that important is it. It might mean that once the pipe line is empty it will be a while before we see anything new. The last thing in the mind of the Japanese is not where is my camera, but rather where is my next meal and water.

I know we all have concerns for the people who are living in Japan. Please let us keep this thread strictly about verifiable and linkable reports on the camera industry's camera manufacturing companies - only.

We are not in a position to discuss the country's future economically or anything else, though I am sure many of us are thinking about ramifications.

Panasonic, consumer electronics and computer company, and parent company of Sanyo/Kyocera, has facilities in Sendai and Fukushima that have sustained serious physical damage, including collapsed ceilings and walls and some structural fires. Due to rolling blackouts and requests to cut power by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the Sanyo factory ceased operations early on Monday, and all electric advertising for the company has been powered down since Saturday.

(The good news is that these are not the camera and lens factories. They are in that general region, though not as close to the heavily damaged area. Should the nuclear situation worsen, the boundries would obvioulsly expand.)